spindlewood

Here are my first impressions at 300 miles

Buying / Waiting Experience

• The car was delivered 6 days before estimate of 102 days. While 3 months was a long time to wait (and I feel for those that waited way longer) I highly recommend a factory order experience due to the chance to get what I want, digest all the issues and expectations, read the manual, and more.
• Dealer communication was not the quickest or most informative, and except for delivery, it appeared they didn't have more info that I did.
• Negotiated 5% off MSRP and it was amazing to unexpectedly save $1,200 at the very end due to the dealer posting a "sale price" on my car by accident the day before I was to pick it up. Felt like a fairy-tale ending. Ended up with 6.58% off -> MSRP $70,125 Paid $65,509

Timeframe
Order Created->01/13/2018
Factory Submitted->01/13/2018
Frozen to Changes->01/17/2018 (4)
email - Your Audi SQ5 order is starting to move->2/9/2018 (27)
email – Your Audi SQ5 is scheduled to be built -> 3/2/2018 (48)
Production Week & ->ETA 1118 (week of 3/12)
Production Complete->ETA 03/15/2018 - Actual 03/15/2018 (61)
email – Your Audi SQ5 is leaving its foreign port soon & vehicle appears on dealer web with VIN->3/19/2018 (65)
Ship Departure->03/21/2018 (67)
email - Personalize your new Audi SQ5 before you even drive it home…->3/28/2018 (74)
Domestic Port Arrived ->ETA 04/04/2018 Released to Carrier->ETA 04/07/2018
MSRP appeared on dealer website->4/11/2018 (88)
Dealer communication "in transit" (not sure what info prompted this)->4/13/2018 (90)
email: Your Audi SQ5 is nearly ready for delivery ->4/18/2018 (95)
Dealer Delivery ->ETA 04/25/2018 - 05/15/2018 – Actual 4/19/2018 (96 days)

Note: Port of Entry: Houston and Transportation Method: Truck (even though it showed a "Ship Departure" date)
Expectations:
My dd was a van for 18 years. My wife had a bmw x3 and I've driven my (92 year old) mom's Mercedes c300 often. I did not like the Mercedes and the x3 wasn't an option based on our bmw reliability experience. A Porche would have been too pretentious (and expensive) in my situation. I wanted a smooth and quiet ride, power whenever, great handling, great tech, quality build, and a felling of luxury. Enter the SQ5…

What I like so far

• Ride: The handling is very smooth including steering and acceleration.
• Power: The power meets my expectations. I am not looking to track the car or do launches. I was surprised to be over 80 mph more than once. Even at 89 mph, it felt very tame.
• Build Quality: Top notch (so far)
• Traffic Sign Recognition: I love this. It probably saved me from earning badges on the way home from the dealer. It has worked flawlessly so far.
• ALA: I don't expect it to drive for me, just to be a safety backup. I don't find its gentle nudges obnoxious but, so far, interesting and maybe 85% reliable – I expect to keep it on. I have the setting on early (default). ** Update - I rarely use Lane Keep Assist (only when on a long freeway trip and need to find coffee). It is not smooth, often inaccurate, and gives too many false positive tone reminders to put hands on the wheel.
• Adaptive Cruise: I have only used it once to test it along with traffic sign recognition and it accurately increased my speed when going from 45 to 55 mph zone. Looks promising and a feature I expect to use a lot. ** Update - I would never get another car without this feature. I am in Adaptive Cruise mode 98% of the time. There are occasional places on turns with faded or missing lane lines where the car may brake when it shouldn't. I know when to expect this behavior and take the car off cruise if needed.

What I don't like

• Tires: I chose the 20" A/S tire and they come with Continental CrossContact LX Sport . Reviews on Tire Rack are awful. I noticed more road noise than I expected but have nothing to compare it with. On a $70k car, I would expect Michelins. I am considering swapping for Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+
• Sport Seats: Getting in and out, there is the side hump that I have to climb over. I can't just slide into my seat. The overall verdict on the comfort of the diamond stitching is still out. The head rest seems to have very limited adjustment capabilities for my size (5'10"). Time will tell.
• Overall Sitting Position: So far it is difficult finding the perfect position where my left elbow can rest on the door arm rest, my hand comfortably hold the wheel, and the wheel is not too close to my knee to run into the cruise control stem. **Update - Haven't noticed this in years.
• Storage: Knew the lack of space going in, but my phone (galaxy s7 plus) doesn't fit anywhere except in the cup holders.

Other Thoughts

• I finally think I know what turbo lag is now In some ways, I wonder if a side benefit to the lag is a smoother (comfort) acceleration in the very beginning. This might make for a more comfortable (less sporty) general every day driving experience. Not an issue for me.

• Averaging about 24 mpg according to the car with mostly freeway driving (at much at 70 mph)

• MMI: I'm able to get around fairly well, but it currently requires too much of my attention. I expect the car and I will be "one" soon. Coming from a no-tech car, there is a lot to digest.
• Sound: I haven't played with the B&O settings. Acceptable so far.
• Haven't messed with Driving modes - **Update - I drive in Individual Mode with most settings in "Comfort" (Steering in Dynamic).

Questions
I don't fully understand the difference between Dynamic (drive select) and "S" Sport (gear shift). Dynamic seems to affect more than just gear shifting (e.g. steering) and automatically chooses "S" Sport. When I choose "Comfort Mode" and shift into "S" Sport mode, the VC shows "Comfort" & "S". Does this mean steering is in comfort but gear shifting is sport?

• Will the doors automatically lock when i walk away if the remote's unlock button is pressed but the door was never opened? ** Update - the answer is "Yes".
• The Navigation crosshairs / zoom to pinch functionality disappeared and I couldn't figure out how to get them back. They reappeared with restarting the car.

OBDEleven Programming
First, I ran a scan, cleared errors as they seemed benign and emailed a backup copy of the initial settings to myself.
Auto Start-Stop feature - disable
Air Conditioning (08) > Adaptation > A/C comfort parameter for start-stop function > (default) 5 > change to new value (0 = disable start/stop)

Disable Seatbelt Warning
Dash Board (17) > Adaptation >Deactivate seat belt warning > (default) No > change to Yes

Display Gear in Virtual Cockpit
Transmission (02) > Adaptation > Single gear display > (default) D off/S off > change to D on/S on

Turn Signal Freeway Flashing
Central Module Comfort System (46) > Adaptation > Turn signal control > Freeway flashing, flashing cycles > (default) 3 > change to desired number (I chose 5)

Turn Off Soundaktor
Actuator For Structure Borne Sound (A9) > Adaptation > Volume of structure-borne noise actuator > default 100 (%) > Enter a value (0 = mute)

Increase time required to open trunk lid with remote key
Central Module Comfort System (46) > Adaptation > Time for opening rear lid with remote control > default 800 (ms) > change to desired value (e.g. 2000 = 2 seconds)

Increase amount of time before "Lane keeping warning: keep hands on steering"
Note: Modifies the threshold of when the lane assist shuts off due to no steering input by the driver
A5/Front Sensor Driver AsstAdaptation Channel: Directional stabilization assist driver inact deactiv threshold
Old Value: Medium > New Value: Late

Allow Navigation Panning while Driving
Note: Reboot MMI Nav afterwards (Nav/Map + Radio + Push Center ****)
Information Control Unit (5F) > Adaptation > Locked menu contents > FB_NAV_3 > non_blocked

Easy Entry
Note: Moves seat back when car shut off and door opened. Move seat to stored position when Start button pushed.
This change was made using the OBDEleven app. Following are the changes made at a bit level
09 Central Electrics
Long coding:
OLD: 07500363E0691CCD050D51199CBE98B9110B3D080000000000000000200016010A63012B825709
NEW: 07500363E0691CCD050D51199CBE9CB9110B3D080000000000000000200016010A63012B825709

36 Seat Adjustment Driver Side
Long coding:
OLD: 005C1B000000B0010000010101010000000000000000000000000000000000
NEW: 005C1B400000B4010000010101010000000000000000000000000000000000

Choose the default Adaptive Cruise distance at vehicle startup.
Note: Puts a new option in the MMI that let's you choose
Adaptive Cruise Control (13) > Adaptation >Distance Basic Setting Option > Old Value: Off >New Value: On

** UPDATE ** Added these
Adjust MPG Calculator
Dash Board (17)
Adaptation
Display correction of consumption and operating range
Changed from 100% to 106%


Change AC Option from AC Max to AC Eco
Air Conditioning (08)
Adaptation: ACmax/ECO
Old Value: ACmax
New Value: ECO

Reset Service Due Reminder
Dashboard (17)
Adaptation > FIX: Distance covered since last mileage-dependent inspection
> new value 0

Adaptation > FIX: Time since last time-dependent inspection
> new value 0

spindlewood

Here are some pics - Perhaps some inside ones to follow sometime






That's Lucy making friends with the new friend.

cmait609

Great looking. Same color as mine.

Wires

Nice ride!

To clarify a couple of your questions: in normal (aka non-Sport mode), the throttle response is sluggish and not responsive. You really need to press the petal to get some action (which is giving the impression of turbo lag). In sport mode, the revs increase from about 600RPM at idle to 900RPM, and the throttle response becomes crisp and responsive. The sluggish response in normal "drive" mode does save you fuel. My commute takes me up a large grade. In sport, I can climb it in 8th gear with no issues (except fuel consumed). In drive, I need to drop to 7th gear or get really hard into the petal.

If you look at the driving mode for "individual" it shows you all the settings that get changed when you switch between comfort and dynamic. Those are separate from sport mode as far as I can tell.

Superswiss clarified this about "manual mode" should you use it. If you are in "drive" and go to manual, you are manual/drive mode. If you are in sport and go to manual mode, you are in manual/sport mode. A little odd how this works and there is no dash indication that it's doing that.

2018_SQ5

Nice!

My 20" all seasons came with Pirelli's. Which I found interesting being that these are not listed at tirerack as being the OEM tire for the 20" wheel. Regardless, they appear to be pretty decent tires for OEM.

Lucky for me I've always prefered smaller screen phones. I'm currently on an Xperia Compact Z and it fits perfectly in the mini-space just right of the shift lever.

sirfracas

Outstanding color choice!

Thanks very much for concisely listing your OBDEleven changes.

My widget and Fire tablet came last Thursday and I was going to have to sift through many posts to compile them all but you saved me a lot of time.

Much appreciated!

Chawski

Love the color! Yours is the first sq5 Ive seen with the mudflaps...yes an odd thing to pick out haha

I think its weird that theres so many different 20" tires and no way to specify which ones you want. Mine came with Michelins, and the one that was replaced by mine on the showroom had Conti's

didnt realize the trunk button could be customized with obd11. Ive come out to my car twice now with the trunk open. I think that alone is going to be worth it to pull the trigger and get it.

spindlewood

Thanks for pointing this out. So it seems that most of what I am experiencing isn't really turbo lag but throttle response due to being in Drive. Ok, I think I've got it: Sport mode changes shift points and electronic throttle response (Engine / Transmission) while the drive modes like Dynamic / Comfort / etc. control all the systems ( Engine / Transmission , Air Suspension, Steering, Dynamic Steering, Suspension Control, Sport Differential, Engine Sound, ACC)

I've re-read the post by SuperSwiss you referred to and to summarize: In "manual mode" you are controlling the shift points. The difference between "Manual Mode Drive" versus "Manual Mode Sport" is the throttle response. What I find interesting is that the transmission and engine adapt to how you drive. What is unclear to me in what SuperSwiss says, is about "shift speeds." I understand changing shift points but why would shift speeds be variable? I would think when the shift point is reached, the engine would shift as quickly as possible no matter the mode. Or am I misunderstanding?

spindlewood

Looks like I lost the tire sweepstakes. I pulled the trigger and ordered the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+. Where I live, sliding through intersections is all too common and I'm not waiting to see why all the Continental reviewers bashed this tire. The whole point of getting A/S tires for me was that they allow me a couple of weeks flexibility in the Fall and Spring.

Hopefully I can get $400 for my set of Continentals with under 500 miles on them and make adding the additional price of the Michelin's more bearable.

spindlewood

I didn't really want to get the mudflaps since I don't really like the look, but my wife convinced me that they will keep the side panels in better shape - protecting them from the gravel and salt spray. Another nod to function over form.

For $80 the OBDEleven was a no brainer.